The Quakers' defense played well enough to keep them in the game, but it was the Cornell defense that handed Penn a 1-0 victory on Friday.
The only tally came on an own goal just under 10 minutes into Penn's Ivy League opener. Cornell defender Leslie Campbell inadvertently headed the ball into her own net.
The Quakers followed that up with another shutout yesterday, beating Rider 2-0. The Quakers' back four dominated both games, allowing a total of three shots.
"I think we knew we had to play well on defense to win," junior Eileen Larkin said. "We knew we couldn't give up any soft goals."
Larkin and fellow center back Kaitlin Campbell took control of the middle of the field with physical play - and they had to, considering how poorly the Penn offense played on Friday.
There was an apparent sense of disappointment, especially from Penn's attacking players, who were unable to put much together on the offensive side.
"I think the main frustration was that we didn't play with composure in the last third," sophomore forward Mara Fintzi said. "We were playing too many long balls instead of having a more composed attack."
The Quakers (7-2-1, 1-0 Ivy) outshot the Big Red (4-5, 0-1) 11 to one and dominated possession, but had to rely on a lucky bounce to get the winning goal.
"We really didn't create a lot on offense," head coach Darren Ambrose said. "When you have that much possession you expect to have more success."
One of the possible reasons for the lack of coherence on offense was the absence of vocal leader Natalie Capuano, who Ambrose said "maybe could have settled us down." The junior midfielder sat out both games while recovering from a concussion despite being cleared to play.
The offense showed signs of improvement yesterday against Rider (3-3-3), according to Ambrose. The coach felt his attacking players "played with more of a team effort" and created more scoring chances.
Jessica Fuccello, with her team-leading sixth goal on the season, opened the scoring with a chip shot over the head of Broncs goalkeeper Alex Post in the 29th minute.
Though the win against Cornell puts the Quakers on the right foot in the Ivy League standings, their play on offense signals that there's plenty of room to improve if they want to challenge for a title - especially with defending champ Columbia on the docket Saturday.
"Any win in the Ivy League is a good thing," Ambrose said after the victory over Cornell, "but I think our expectations are higher."
